Ambassador Bridge Reopens After Bomb Threat

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) – Things are back to normal at the Ambassador Bridge Tuesday morning, after a bomb threat shut down the international crossing for several hours Monday night.

Detroit Police Sgt. Eren Stephens told WWJ a 911 call came in around 7:20 p.m. pertaining to a bomb on the international bridge.

The caller said a bomb would go off in 10 minutes along the busy freight crossing, police Inspector Don Johnson said during news conference Monday night.

“It did come from the US side and we are definitely following up on the information that we have so far, utilizing our intel center and other resources that we have,” said Johnson.

The call prompted authorities in both cities to halt all truck and car traffic across the bridge — which was reopened around 1 a.m. Tuesday after security sweeps failed to turn up any incendiary devices, Stephens said.

At the time, police said a man had called from a street pay phone and warned of a bomb on the Canadian side of the tunnel. Authorities have since said surveillance video from a coffee shop near the phone booth where the call was made might offer clues about the caller.

Johnson said the call Monday came in from somewhere in Detroit, though other details weren’t immediately released.

Police had set up several roadblocks near the bridge, where canine units were called in to search the bridge. The Coast Guard was patrolling the Detroit River beneath the bridge and blocked river traffic until about 1 a.m. Tuesday as well.

The closing led to major traffic backups on expressways and other major roads leading into downtown Detroit, Stephens said. Car and light truck traffic was being diverted to the Detroit Windsor Tunnel about 2 miles away, though large trucks cannot use the underwater commuter tunnel.